


The Transmission

by Berrybanana



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Endgame, Gen, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 02:58:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18730339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Berrybanana/pseuds/Berrybanana
Summary: // SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS ENDGAME!!PLEASE DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU'VE SEEN IT!! //Tony isn’t the only one who knows how to record and send a message.





	The Transmission

**Author's Note:**

> Tony isn’t the only one who knows how to record and send a message.

It's empty here now. A wasteland of rubble, crumbling support beams, and shattered glass.  
Lifeless.  
And yet it was the place in which all life had returned. It was the place in which gold had split the sky and their allies had returned in their hundreds.  
It was the place of great triumph but without Them, their victory rang hollow.

Steve steps over a patch of charred earth and begins to make his way into the rubble. The tracker beeps loudly at his hip.  
“I think the signal is coming from over here-“

The notification came in right at the end of Tony’s funeral. They all dismissed it at the time, of course, it wasn’t the appropriate moment. But Morgan (who was too young to really understand the nature of the event, who didn’t understand much more than her daddy wasn’t coming home, that he loved her but he had to go-) in a moment of boredom pulled up the information panel with a flick of her fingers.  
No one tried to stop her.  
Her next few words changed everything.  
“It’s... It’s As-gar-di-an- Asgardian?”

Thor’s eyes were the first to light up.  
His voice was tense when he next spoke.  
“Play the message, Daughter-of-Stark. Play the message. Please.”  
No one protested. Hope was all that kept them alive at this point and if Thor had hope, they all had a little more.  
The little girl cocked her head but shrugged and pressed play.  
The God of Thunder barely dared to breathe. Barely dared to hope. For all he knew, his own distress signal had finally reached earth. It could be nothing.  
_It could be everything._

 _“Hello, Brother.”_  
Thor collapses to his knees.  
“Loki-!”  
People are talking- _“of all the people to survive this, him?!”_ , people are moving and all Thor can do is shake.  
The hologram of his brother smiles at him. Smiles. He looks identical to the day Thor had last seen him, down to every last smudge of dirt.  
He looks just like he did before he died.  
Thor ignores the twist of doubt in his chest.

“Loki-“ He chokes out.  
The hologram smiles again and Thor swears he can see tears glinting in his brother’s eyes.  
_“I’m assuming that you’re lost for words.”_  
Thor laughs and tears begin to build in his eyes.  
_“Or maybe I’m there at your side and you already know this is coming.”_

Thor’s smile fades. He hears the sharp intakes of breath, hears a quiet “Oh shit” from Clint.  
What?  
No.  
He had to have misheard. He couldn’t have regained his brother just to lose him again.

 _“Either way, I’m sorry. I’m sorry about the tesseract. I’m sorry I had to leave you.  
_ _I don’t have much time left, so I’m going to have to cut this short._

 _I took it- the tesseract- when I activated Ragnarok. I just couldn’t leave it there. I figured I’d make sure you got away and then I’d disappear with it, find somewhere to hide. Keep it safe from Thanos and his forces..._  
_He could torture me for a hundred years and I’d never let him have it, not ever._  
_But I was selfish. I wanted time with you- I wanted time to be your brother again, even if everything was broken and damaged. When you threw that rock at me-_  
_When you hugged me-“_  
Loki looks away.

 _“I just wanted a year._  
_A month._  
_A week._  
_I got a day.”_  
A small huff of air escapes his lips.  
_“It was a wonderful day.  
__I’m so sorry.”_

Tears are spilling down both of their faces now and something just _breaks_ in the thunder god’s chest.  
He can barely hold back his ragged sobs and he faintly registers one of the Avenger’s hands placed on his shoulder, rubbing in gentle circles.  
He’s not sure who it is. It doesn’t matter. Nothing does.

The illusion takes a shaky breath of his own and forces a smile.  
A smile for him- for Thor-  
_“I meant what I said that day, you know. The day of your almost-coronation._  
_Every word._  
_I love you brother. With all my heart. I always will, no matter what.”_  
Some part of Thor knows that Loki is stalling. Putting off the inevitable.  
“‘Cutting it short’, my ass.” He thinks.  
Another part of Thor knows that this is truly isn’t the present but the past.  
That only makes it hurt more.

 _“If this all goes well I’ll see you on the battlefield with an army of the undead at my heels. Possibly our sister too if we‘re really fortunate. If not-“_  
The illusion, the memory of his brother smiles warmly, proudly, genuinely.  
_“You are the bravest person I know, Thor. I need you to be. Be brave and strong and mourn but keep going. Don’t let your grief consume you. I need you to be the leader that the people of Asgard need.”_

Thor feels like a failure.  
“I’m sorry, brother- I failed you-“

The recording continues on, regardless of Thor's apologies.  
_“Odin… Father… was proud of the leader you became- strong, wise. Our mother was proud of the man you became- generous, compassionate. And I- I’m proud of my brother. Clever, sensitive, brave, charismatic. It’s okay to mourn, brother, it’s okay to tear your world apart in your grief for your people. But when you’re done, when the world is in pieces around you- I need you to sew it back together and live, Thor, whether the other half of your people and I return or not.”_

The illusion averts his eyes.  
_“I regret very few of my actions-“_  
Loki twists his arm and pulls a stone- small, unassuming, grey- from nothing and holds it out before him.  
_“This will tell you why._  
_This stone has all of my memories implanted into it. Every minute of my life. Some are blocked off, of course, I can’t have you seeing everything- But I figured since I wasn’t much of a sharer during life (there was_ good _reason, I promise-) I should at least give you answers in death.”_  
  
The soft look in his eyes fades, his expression turning serious. He’s strategising, thinking. Thor smiles. Loki sighs.  
_“It also has all the information you could ever need about Thanos. His hide-outs, his armies, his generals, his primary tactics, their weaknesses._    
_Just in case I don’t return.”_  
He sighs and closes his fist around the stone.

 _“Well, that would’ve been helpful earlier.”_ Someone quips from behind Thor. They shut up with a quiet thump.  
The Prince of Asgard speaks again.  
_“I’m sorry I can’t do more._  
_It should arrive on Earth in enough time for them to plan... Well. Unless something goes horribly wrong, that is._  
_And in the terrible scenario that you do fail…_  
_I have three last-ditch plans to fulfil listed in this relic.  
__Perhaps you can see them through for me. I have no doubt that the Man of Iron will do something foolish and dangerous as he did during my own invasion of New York, and possibly the Widow too if Barton is in danger._ ”

The room really is silent then, buzzing with something that isn’t quite hope, not yet. Thor waits, they all wait with bated breath, barely daring to acknowledge the god’s words.  
Thor takes in every detail he can before the transmission ends.  
The illusion shakes and glitches and the mage glances over his shoulder.  
_“I’m-“_  
They can see him shaking, see his hands trembling.  
Loki always hides his fear. He must really be terrified.  
_“I’m scared Thor. I know what I have to do but I’m terrified. I don’t know if I can face him agai-“_  
His words cut off as a muffled shout breaks through his wards.  
“ _Thor_.”  
All doubt vanishes from his face, replaced with shaky determination and only the slightest hint of fear. He makes twisting motions with his hands, rushing the incantation, palms flickering green as he forced the seidr to move in an inelegant, clunky fashion he has not used for millennia. He has no time for perfection, nor elegance.  
Only Thor.

And because of that, when he drops the stone, returns from the Mirror Dimension and turns to rejoin the battle, it doesn’t vanish straight away.  
Instead, Thor is forced to watch as his brother sacrifices his life one final time.  
Desperately, he watches Loki’s upbeat exchange, analyses every word closely. He sees the knife flicker into being, watches panic glint in his past self’s eyes. Thor pities him.  
Finally, the thunder god watches his brother writhe and kick and struggle in the Mad Titan’s grip.  
He searches for a flash of green, a sneaky illusion he might’ve missed.  
He finds nothing.  
The snap is resounding.  
Absolute.

When his brother drops to the ground, abandoned carelessly, thrown like a rag doll, Thor looks away.  
He hears himself roar in pain and fury, running to his brother's side-  
And the transmission ends.

He’s back to the torment. To the endless wondering- was it real? Is his brother truly, truly dead?  
He has to assume so. To assume anything else may just drive him mad.

 

And that was why they were here, at the devastated Avengers Building, pawing through rubble.  
To find that stone. To find his brother's last-ditch plans. And hopefully, to find the truth, while they were at it.


End file.
